The truth about Twitter, Facebook and the uprisings in the Arab world - 0 views
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Victoria Jobling on 25 Mar 12Beaumont, P. (2011, February 25). The Truth about Twitter, Facebook and the Uprisings in the Arab World. The Guardian. Retrieved March 24, 2012, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/25/twitter-facebook-uprisings-arab-libya?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 This article discusses how political activists harnessed the web for their benefit, during the Arab revolutions. Unlike other resources, this article is of great value as it reveals that written tweets were not the only way that protestors and activists utilised the web. The people involved used phones to capture images and videos of the destruction around them, to not only inform their fellow protestors, but also to provide credible evidence to the outside world. People also contributed medical information and important phone numbers to assist and organise others involved in the uprising. This indicates the power of the 'other' described in "The Revolutions Were Tweeted: Information Flow during the 2011 Tunisian and Egyptian Revolutions" as ordinary people provide the bulk of the information. Each of these contributions demonstrates a form of collaboration, whereby; participants worked towards a common goal and participated in knowledge sharing (Blau, 2011, p.23). The article conveys that this provided a clear image of what was happening where, via specific sites. It is also noted that each uprising used the web differently, due to constrictions and organisation of the group. Facebook provided the voice to people in Tunisia as it was one of the only social networking sites that had not been shut down, despite the government's desire to do so, they feared it would cause more unrest. However, Egypt appeared to be the most organised group, as "details of demonstrations were circulated by both Facebook and Twitter and the activists' 12-page guide to confronting the regime was distributed by email" (Beaumont, 2011). The author also comments on the Western media's quick judgments on how social media was used